Means and method for making knitted fabrics with spread stitches



Oct. 7, 1947;

H. J. SCHMIDT ETAL MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICS WITH SPREAD STITCHES 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 15, 1945 hang J. Schmwi,

5:4 nd. Oscar Dojom,

Oct. 7, 1947. HNJ. SCHMIDT ETAL 2,428,529

MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICS WITH SPREAlj STITCHES Filed Nov. 15, 1945 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 A \m A J O/car Z0 0/9 Oct. 7, 1947. H. J. SCHMIDT EIAL 2,428,529

MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICS WITH SPREAD STITCHES Filed Nov. 15, 1945 a Sheets-Sheet a yummy '1 D I l O Oct. 7, 1947. H. J. SCHMIDT ETAL 2,428,529

MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICSv WITH SPREAD'STITCH ES Filed Nov. 15, 1945 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 a I I w w I (D 0 9 s e WIJI" IIIIIH lllllllllll 9v OfCGr Dofap Oct. 7, 1947. H. J. SCHMIDT EI'AL MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICS WITH SPREAD STITCHES 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 15, 1945 wafzz I 3mm: 9 Q/car Z7 00 er/y JI/Mm l/f Oct. 7, 1947. H. J. SCHMIDT ETAL 2,428,529

MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKINGKNITTED FABRICS W ITH SPREAD STITCHES Filed Nov. 15, 1945 a Sheets-Sheet e I I v Iii,

7 4 z Jog 747/4.

I Oct. 7, 1947. H. J. SCHMIDT ET AL 5 MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICS WITH SPREAD S'I'ITCHES Filed Nov. 15, 1945 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 5. Ofcar 20 5 Harry fO m [6/7 I 01mm,

Oct. 7, 1947. H. J. SCHMIDT ET AL I 2,428,529

MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICS WITH SPREAD'STITCHES Filed Nov. 15, 1945, 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 HER L 0/60) 20 0/) 17$ Q EQ Harry J EA/140% Patented Oct. 7, 1 947 MIfiHOli .Eiili MAK NG KNITTED. FABRICS WITH SPREAD STITCHES Harry J. Schmidt, c11ingswda,-N; J.,- and Oscar Doja'n; Temple-11 a.

Ami-[amen ndveiiibef 15, nits, seam" NH. 6283812 solitaire; (o1; 6'9"6) Our invention relates to a method and means for making knitted fabric with spread loops, and it is an object thereof to provide a machine of the well-known full-fashioned type with irh'-' proved means enabling the machine tb'k'nit' a fabric containing or including spread loops, either for ornamentation or' to provide a run resistant cloth. 7

Fabrics containing spread loops have long been known, such loops (knotted stitches) being shown in Fig. 141 of Wilkomm, Die Te'chn'ologie der' Wirkerei, published 1875, and various mechanisms and mechanical methods haveben devisfed for knitting such fabrics. Because of the method of manipulating the loops that are being spread they are liable to slip off the transfer point, or in other ways to make defective work,

and it is common knowledgetha't an'undue percentage of seconds occurs inthe fabric so made and in articles made with knotted stitch cloth. It is the primary object of our invention to provide means in a knitting machine' for spreading" loops with certainty and definiten'ess so that a pattern can be knitted with practical certainty of exactness inthe pattern, or a run resistant fabric can be knitted which shall be uniform in appearance and in non-run quality. k

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism for operating theknockover bits to give them a novel and desirable motic-n.

Referring to the drawings, which are made a part of this application, and in which similar' reference characters indicate similar parts:

, Figs. 1 to 11 are diagrammatic views illustrating the operations of needles and needle co-operating devices in carrying out the process of our inven-' tion, 7 I

Fig 11a, an elevation, partly in section, show: ing portions of a needle and. a transfer point in transfer position, I

Fig. 12 is a frontelevation of part fashioned knitting machine,

of a full- Figs. 13, 14 and 1 5, respectively, front,rear,-

and top plan views of part of the needle bar,

Fig. 16, a detail of the needle bar and the knockover bit bed and coacting parts, viewed from the left in Fig. 12,

Fig. 17, a detail of aneedle knockover bit, g g V i I Fig. 18, a perspective of means for clamping the bits to the knockover bit bed, H M H M Fig. 19, a front elevation of the knockov'er bit" bed, and operating meanstherefor, I

Fig. 20, a top'planof the same,

and an adjacent Fig. 21, aperspe'ctive or arknockover bit, Fig 221a view similar to" additional parts,

Piazza; a side' eivaubn of a bracket shown ifl Fig, 22; N

gig.2 1,.a' lanofsaidbracket; I a v V I I Fig; 25; a'se'ction"o n line' 2545 (Fig. 19) of pansshowfim-Figs. 191024;

Fig. 26', a vertical" section on line 2lif 2tiflof Fig. 12, showing thejmech'anis'mfor raising and lowering the knockover bit bed,

Fig. 27, alert elevation of an 285, a vertical carried thereby,

Figs: 7 29" and 30',- elevation's' of the cams at the chines mad'by the "Ieiitile Machine Works of Reading, Penna, and reference may be had to the 1929"catalogue of that company for details not shown herein, but which are mattersofcom:

mon knowledge toj'thoseskilled intheart;

In the drawings:

Fig. 1- showsjone of the bearded knitting needles" Mlof the series, .a: sinker 4|, a" transfer point 42,

and a knockover bit 43, the point having just" beenj'moved from its normal orgrest positiolLirrdicated in dotted lines to a; position ,lower than the usual position for transierring stitches. in

a row g atigns and t e lik 1 h1 I Q os t it.c versthebe rd helqwere ne le and is positioned inside the terminallooppn the needle (terminalloopsbeingshown as greatly egaggerated in size in Figs. 1 to 1Q) the sinker bealae rm e i t he ldev'v'n we. iabr e In-Fig. 2 the eedle h s bee moved point.

In" Fig; '3" the" needits? st ws ising to" l e'" vate its beard above the'te'rminall loop; the cloth" beiiigjheld' down by the sinker during" such rise o'f'the'needle.

permit the point to pass inspreadingthe loop oller a adjacent needle without interference betw'e i'i' point andsi'nk'er;

Fig; 19 but Showia the cani for raising; 4 merits the knockover bed (screams 9n the" In 'n camshaft being shown in neutral positions" 1 5 L sectionof saidcam and cams of fabric made" 1 shown in the drawings is; iri

. d w wa fi ane'swuag to thlefright away from thef trans'ferl" point to moveth needle beard away from the" 45* 1 rise.

erally past needle either to right or left.

shown in Fig. 6. It should be noted that there are here shown only half as many points as needles, i. e., a point at every other needle, as

when run-resistant cloth is to be knitted. Of

course if only a few ornamental spread stitches are to be made, the number of points is made to correspond to the pattern desired. The fabric and the new stitch are both controlled by the bits,

before the bits come all the way forward to lock the stitches, the fabric resting on the bits at this time.

The bit 53 is now advanced (Fig. 7) to hold the leg d of the spread loop securely under the beard of needle 4% in said figure by means of the nose, best shown at 43a in Figs. 11 and 21, the bits rem'aining in this position until after the leg of the loop is safely under the needle beard. The relative positions of the point 42 and the needle 40a are such that the legs 01 and e of the loop do not engage under or within the needle beard but slide over the top of the needle (Figs. 8 and 9) as the downward movement of the needle continues.

The sinker remains retracted as in Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 shows a position where the needles have been fully lowered and the loop is located in position to surround the needle 40a when the needles are raised. The sinkers 4'! are now advanced to hold the loop down when the needles Fig. 10 shows a later position where the needles and points are both ready to transfer loops as in Fig. 11, and the loops, together with the fabric, are beingheld down by the sinkers (Fig. 11). After the transfer operation is completed the points return to the dotted line position of Fig. 1. Fig. 1111 shows the terminal loop 45 of thepreviously formed cloth as being under the needle beard at the time when the new loop Misbeing placed on the needle 40.

Thesteps of the operation may be summarized as follows: the paragraph numbers corresponding to figure numbers in the drawings:

1. Points have been located to remove stitches from needles.v Sinkers in advanced position.

. 2. Needles moving downward until 'top of hooks aboutfe to /8 inch above adjacent part of sinker, and also moving away from points to relieve pressure of point against beard. Sinkers still remain forward to hold down loops.

3. Needles rising to raise beards above terminal loop on needles. Sinkers remain forward to hold down fabric and end loops.

4. Sinkers back, needles fully raised and farther from presser bar to fully relieve pressure of point on beard and permit points to move lat- Bits lowered to' permit points to pass by.

5. Perspective of Fig. 4, showing how points have moved laterally. Beards about a inch above terminal loops as in Fig. 4.

6. Needles and points moving downward, bits moved upward to stretch and support fabric and spread loops.

7. Knockover bits advanced to hold leg of each spread loop under beard of its needle as needles descend.

8. Needles descending toward position where spread or stretched loop slips over end of needle 4 40a. Bits moved downward and backward to normal position.

9. Needles fully down with selected loops spread in position to pass around needle 40a. Sinker-s being advanced to hold down fabric and spread loops.

10. Beard being closed by point. Needles and points rising, and sinkers advancing to hold down fabric and the spread loops (see Figs. 11 and lla) Points, when freed, return to idle (dotted line) position of Fig. 1.

Our method may be carried out on full-fashioned knitting machines of various types by appropriate adaptations of the mechanism, but we have shown a section of a machine of the wellknown Reading type and parts of such a machine in detail to indicate to those skilled in the art the alterations made therein for our purpose.

The machine includes a frame comprising a front beam 48 (Figs. 12 and 26), a back beam 55, a center ,bed 55, a main cam shaft 51, a needle bar 52, yarn fingers 53, a narrowing point bar 54, a

knockover bit bed 55 (Figs. 16, 19, 20) with means 55a, 55b, for clamping the bits thereon, and other conventional parts and operating devices therefor.

means, including depending rock arm 55 (Fig. 12), follower 58, and cams 59 and 60 (Figs. 12,

34 and 35, etc.) for moving the'baryerticallyg Other cams such as the narrowing cams 62, the catch bar earns 63, 64,-and the presser cams and 65, for rocking the needle bar to press the beards, by the usual. connections; including a rock arm 56a for each section, are arranged along the main cam shaft, and are connected by consaidarms l te loosely engaging a shaft l5a at the lower ends of standards I5 that carry the knockover bed 55, said standards having horizontally elongated s1ots "rece'iving shaft 15a. Spring 14] holds the roller 73 against its cams. It will be understood that various cams on the main cam shaft have been changed in shape in order to give the several parts therelative movements necessary for our purpose, and such altered shapes 'are illustrated 'in'Figs. 27 to 30 in suiiicient detail to inform those skilled in the art.

The "nockover-bit bed is movedbackw'ard and forward to lock one leg of each of the desired stitches under the beard of its needle, and this is (lone by means of earns 85, -8! on the main cam' shaft, arranged to engage aroller- Bid on a lever 82 mounted on a shaft 83 carrying. rock arms 82a, said shaft being supported'iby; brackets, one of which isshown-at 84 as'mounted on the back-beam 59. In order to avoid interference with the rock arms 56a, which rock to'press the needle beards, the shaft B3 is not continuous over the length of the machine, but is divided into sections, each supported at opposite ends in bearings carried respectively by arms 8 511,841)

as usual, holds the leverjlZgin suchposition'that its follower Bla contactswith camifljl or 81. U j

The. needle .bar 52 (Fig. 1 13)," has the usual Accurate determination of the ex reme rear position of the knockover bits is provided by a set cr w 8 E s- 6) n ea h s andard ai screws bearing against centen bed 50 and being each fixed in adjusted position by a nut 88'. The standards are normally held in rearmost position, where screws 88 rest against the center bed, by springs 86 secured at one end to the center bed and at the other to pinsiific (Figs. 16 and 22).

At the upper end of each rock arm 82 a. crossbar 821; extends at its ends back of the adjacent pair of standards 15,15 (Figs. 16', 19 and 22), said bar being secured to the standards by bolts 82c shown in Fig. 16. Each rock arm 82a has a head 82h, shown in dotted lines in Figure 19, which is yieldably secured to its crossbar by means comprisingbolts. 82o (Eigs. 19 and 25) threaded into laterally extending. arms of head 82h. These bolts pass through vertically elongated slots 82d in bar 821) which permit the parts 55, 75, 82b and elements carried thereby to move up and down independently of the rock arm 82a, etc., and are encircled by springs 82} arranged between the heads of the bolts 82c and washers 82g resting against the front face of crossbar 8273. Thus it will be seen that the knockover bits are moved positively forward to an extreme forward position determined by the contour of cams 80 or SI, and are yielding-ly'drawn back by means of springs 82 85 and 86.

In Fig. 31 we have shown a specimen of fabric which may be made by our process. In said figure, stitches 90 in alternate or even numbered wales have been stretched so as to extend over an adjacent intermediate stitch in the next wale to the left. Obviously, the stitches may be spread to the right instead of to the left, the spread stitches may be increased or reduced in number, and in general the process and its products may be changed in various ways. It will be obvious also that the knockover bed movement herein disclosed may be utilized in other ways and for other purposes and that its construction may be varied. Therefore we do not limit ourselves to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our application, Serial No. 444,406, filed May 25, 1942.

Having thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of knitting fabric having spread stitches therein on a machine having bearded needles, sinkers, transfer points and knockover bits, comprising the steps of entering a transfer point in the loop on each of one or more of said needles, lowering the needles to land such loops on the points, moving the needles away from the points, raising the needles to clear such loops off their beards, holding down the fabric by means of the sinkers during all of the foregoing steps, retracting the sinkers and lowering the bits, moving the points laterally over at least one needle space to spread said loops, depressing the needles and points while raising the bits to stretch and support the fabric, advancing the bits to hold a leg of each spread loop against the shank of its needle, lowering the needles and returning the bits to idle position, advancing the sinkers, and raising the needles and points to clear the spread loops off the points and leave them on the needles.

2. A method of knitting fabric having spread stitches therein on a machine having bearded needles, transfer points, sinkers and knockover bits, including the steps of entering a transfer point in the loop of each of one or more of the needles, lowering the needles to a level where their heads are still above the plane of the lower part of the sinkers so as to land the loops on the said points, raising the needles to clear'their beards, holding down the fabric throughout all of the foregoing steps by means of the sinkers, retracting the sinkers and lowering the bits to provide space for lateral movement of the points, moving the points laterally at least one needle space, moving the bits upward and forward to cause them to hold a leg of each spread loop against the shank of its needle, and placing the spread loops on the adjacent needles.

3. A method of knitting fabric having spread stitches therein on a machine having bearded needles, transfer points, sinkers and knockover bits, including the steps of engaging loops of selected needles by transfer points while holding the fabric down by means of the sinkers, retracting the sinkers and depressing the bits to permit lateral movement of the points, moving the points laterally in the space so provided, the movement being at least over one needle space for spreading the loops carried by said points, raising the bits while lowering the needles and points, advancing the bits to hold a leg of each spread loop against the shank of its needle, and moving the spread loops from the transfer points onto adjacent needles.

4. A method of knitting fabric having spread stitches therein on a machine having bearded needles, transfer points, sinkers and knockover bits, including the steps of entering transfer points in selected needle loops, while the fabric is held down by the sinkers, then retracting the sinkers and lowering the bits, moving the points laterally over at least one needle space, positioning the bits to hold down a leg of each spread loop against the shank of its needle, and placing the spread loop on the needle adjacent thereto.

5. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a, main cam shaft, knockover mechanism comprising a knockover bit bed, means operated from the main cam shaft for raising and lowering said bed, means independently operated from said cam shaft for giving the bit bed a forward and backward movement, the last-named means acting to move the bit bed positively toward the needle bar and including standards supporting the bed, a shaft, a lever on said shaft, means for oscillating said lever, slidable connections between said lever and said standards to permit vertical movement of the bed, and yielding connections between said lever and the standards to permit independent swinging movement of the lever.

6. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a main camshaft, knockover mechanism comprising a knockover bit bed, standards supporting said bed means operated from the main camshaft for raising and lowering said bed, and means independently operated from said camshaft for giving the bit bed a forward and backward movement, the means for raising and lowering the bed including a rock arm having lost motion connections with the lower ends of the standards, the means for giving said bed a forward and backward movement including a rock arm having a lost motion connection with an intermediate portion of said standards, and resilient means holding said standards against the last-named rockarm.

'7. A device as in claim 6, including resilient means for moving aid bit bed away from the needle bar, and means for positively limiting such movement. 1 v

8. In a full-fashioned kitting machine having a main camshaft, knockover mechanism comprising a knoekoverbit bed, means operated from the main camshaft for raising and lowering the bit bed, means independently operated from said camshaft'for giving the bit bed a forward and backward movement, the last-named means acting to move the bit bed positively toward the needle bar, said means including standards supporting thebed, a shaft, 3, rockarm on the shaft, means for oscillating the rockarm, yielding connections between the rockarmand the standards 15 to permit vertical movement of the bed, and yieldable means to move the bit bed. away from the needle bar. 'HARRY J. SCHMIDT OSCAR DOJAN.

REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are of record in the file of this patent: y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name 1,978,454 Gastrich Oct. 30, 1934 2,080,223 Gastrich May 11, 1937 1,959,833 Lieberknecht May 22, 1934 1,999,908 Lieberknecht Apr. 30, 1935 2,053,225 Richter Sept. 1, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 391,764 Germany Mar. 14, 1924 556,215 France Apr. 10, 1923 752,466 France July 17, 1933 765,159 France Mar. 19, 1934' 

